His vocal cords grizzled to the point at which his singing approaches incomprehensibility, Tricky has chosen to lurk in the background of his ninth album. It's deliberate, as Mixed Race sees Tricky focused on developing not his lyrics but his sound. That is one change from 2008's Knowle West Boy and there are others, such as an increase in tempo and melody, even an occasional taste for cheese. Most striking, though, is the mix of musical genres that are trawled and tricked up across the piece: a Daft Punk pastiche is followed by a dancehall cover and a piece of cosmic disco. The album's centre is a song performed by Algerian rai guitarist Hakim Hamadouche; it is melancholic, haunting, and also, thanks to the sly addition of a tough, granular beat, distinctively Tricky. Mixed Race doesn't always hang together, but it is the work of someone with a renewed creative appetite.